Honeywell to upgrade Los Angeles wastewater system

December 20, 2011 - Honeywell has been awarded a 15-year, $88.6-million contract to completely overhaul the technology controlling the massive wastewater treatment system in Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S.

The project will allow the city’s Bureau of Sanitation to replace the current control systems, some of which have been in place for two decades and are vastly outdated. It will also enable the city to realize its vision for a city- and network-wide integrated operation, simplifying how it operates and maintains the wastewater system, and reducing environmental risks from the aging infrastructure. The system capacity is 550 million gallons of wastewater each day, and controls 6,700 miles of sewer lines that serve more than 4 million residential and commercial customers in Los Angeles and 29 other cities.

Honeywell Process Solutions was awarded the contract by Los Angeles with a recommendation by the Board of Public Works and final approval by the City Council. Honeywell ranked first in all of the city’s evaluation criteria, was found to have exhibited the most advanced product technology, offered the lowest price of ownership (i.e. lifecycle cost), offered relevant experience with distributed control systems and demonstrated the project management team’s expertise.

The Honeywell technology will allow the city to link its four main treatment plants with geographically dispersed pumping stations to give operators the ability to control the entire system from a central location, if needed. The project will enable the city to more effectively and efficiently monitor operations at the city’s pumping stations and collection facilities that are scattered throughout more than 500 square miles of the city’s service area.

The project is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2012 and will take approximately seven years to complete. Honeywell will provide support services for eight years after completion to ensure the system is appropriately maintained. About 80 new jobs will be created in Los Angeles as a result of the project.

“This overhaul will give us better effectiveness and efficiency to meet the city’s needs and improve its overall infrastructure for decades to come,” said Varouj Abkian, assistant director, Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation. “In addition, over the next decade we expect the project to save us tens of millions of dollars and generate much-needed high-paying jobs for our community. We are delighted that this project was approved by the City Council which will address our water quality objectives, serving our core mission.”

Besides streamlining the wastewater system’s operations, Honeywell Process Solutions’ Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) platform – used by a wide range of municipalities and industrial manufacturers across the globe – will reduce training requirements for department employees who previously had to learn to operate and maintain multiple systems. Honeywell’s single-platform approach means operators only need to learn one system.

“Safety, reliability, efficiency and sustainability are the measuring sticks for all industrial sites, whether they be utility companies, manufacturing plants, or municipalities such as Los Angeles for its wastewater operations,” said Tracey Haslam, Americas vice president, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Achieving those four objectives means getting the right information to the right people at the right time, which is exactly what this new control system will provide for Los Angeles’ Bureau of Sanitation. We’re committed to helping the city transition to the new system and then supporting that system well into the future.”

Honeywell has an installed base of over 30,000 control systems worth $17 billion in over 8,000 sites globally. Eight of the top 10 specialty chemicals companies use Honeywell technology. Honeywell has installed and manages some of the world’s most sophisticated and mission critical automated control systems in refineries, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, pipelines, power plants and other industrial facilities worldwide.

Honeywell International is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. Honeywell Process Solutions is part of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions group, a global leader in providing product and service solutions that improve efficiency and profitability, support regulatory compliance, and maintain safe, comfortable environments in homes, buildings and industry.